TKR Almost one year out

[BBCG]

Wonderful! For me, too, getting to the sea is also such a positive experience! I grew up in New Jersey near the Atlantic Ocean (the other side of our mutual pond!) and spent time there as a kid each summer.

I’m glad to hear being in the water was beneficial too… I’m trying to find a way to get to the beach with my husband again soon too, so thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Cabu]

Hi all !!

I have tightness on the outside of my leg from about mid thigh down to mid shin. It’s been kind of building the last few days and I’m not sure how to stretch it out to relieve the pain that’s coming from the tightness when I extend my leg.

I went to the movies Saturday and Im Sure that didn’t help my cause. I iced all through the movie but yesterday morning my leg was very stiff. I didn’t sleep great the last few night either because when I stretch out my leg it hurts and wakes me up.

also my ankle on my knee op side is giving me hell,I had issues with it before,ankle and Achilles’ tendon and they have both decided to flare up pretty badly over the last couple of days

so although my knee is definitely getting stronger and less raw pain the bits around it are playing up
This surely is a process isn’t it !!

hope everyone is doing well

 

[Jo Wo]

cabu, I am worried about sitting with feet to floor too soon for extended periods. I wonder if anyone has guidance on this? here in week 2 I limit it to 10 to 15 minutes. otherwise I have my legs at hip level or go flat on my back with toes above nose afterwards.

yes it is a bit like the pain gremlin pops up in different places every now and then.

 

[Flutter1]

@Jo Wo I am almost at 7 weeks and I have just started sitting in restaurants. I limit it to 2 hours. I am retired, so at home I keep my leg elevated a lot. I do think it keeps the pain down. It almost feels better to move and walk than to sit. @Cabu sorry you are having pain.

 

[Sisterpat]

Cabu, yes, it IS a process! Random pains, zingers, tightness will plague you for quite a while. But this, too, shall pass - eventually! Sitting through a movie would be tough for me even at this point. An hour or so is my maximum without ensuing pain/stiffness.

 

[Cabu]

Thanks everyone
I probably got too cocky in my recovery thinking like a teenager whose wisdom knows no bounds and who can’t be told anything

I’m sure I’ve just over done it on the back of some very positive no pain days. And like @Sisterpat says this too shall pass
And like a bold teenager I regret nothing

i might try and have some massage done on my calf and see does it loosen it out a bit,I’ve raided the painkiller press for now and that is definitely helping.I’ll and elevate for most of the evening and that will also help. Time for a new book methinks !!!

 

[Arrangrl]

Hi
My incision is mostly healed except for maybe 3/4 little wounds,I had taken the covering off completely but then I noticed some oozing from the bits that aren’t healed over completely, should I cover it up again ?I had my RTKR three weeks ago today and my staples out 1 week ago

Hey
My staples out today and a little bit like yourself .. my nurse cleaned and another dressing applied and they will come back next Monday to check x

 

[Cabu]

Hi @Arrangrl
10 wks post op for me now, I’d say it took probably 2/3 wks for most of the incision to heal. I had two little bits that have only just healed over completely recently. One bit was on my knee and a lot of the time if I bent my knee it opened so that bit if my scar is wider than the rest but no issues with it. I hope yours heals up nice and fast

 

[sistersinhim]

I had two little bits that have only just healed over completely recently. One bit was on my knee and a lot of the time if I bent my knee it opened so that bit if my scar is wider than the rest but no issues with it.

That is a very good reason to not bend your knee that much. You don't want to take any chances of an infection setting in. Once all the incision is healed it should be OK to bend the knee a little more until you feel pain. That's the time to stop!

 

[Cabu]

Hi All

just wondering how long did you stay taking painkillers for your recovery?

I’m currently taking one tramadol most days and 2/3 lots of paracetamol. Some days (like today)I could definitely use something stronger than the paracetamol but I’m thinking at 10 weeks I should be trying to cut them out also.
My GP gave me Melfen 400g(I think it’s ibrufopen ) for my other knee but I find them very hard on the stomach and not super great on pain.
I’m just being a moany Margaret today I’ve been unavoidably busy the last couple of days and driving a nice bit more than I have been so I know why my knee(whole leg really) is shouting at me.

Is it wise to medicate to get through busy times or should you just a grin and bear it and wait for it to be not sore again ?

I’m planning on a little trip down the country to Co. Kerry to see my sister in 3 wks and I’m worried if I’m this sore after a couple of heavy days at home what will I be like after a two and a half hour drive and take part in whatever activities the families will be doing. It’ll probably be only a couple of short localised trips and a day at the beach so I’m hoping I’ll manage it and not be miserable with pain or set myself back too much

needless to say the day I decided to go on and booked the trip I was feeling brilliant !!
Here’s hoping for more “brilliant” and less “meh “

 

[FourCats]

I only took oxycodon twice post surgery then acetaminophen every six hours for four weeks. Now I occasionally take acetaminophen especially after I have been on my feet for any length of time. Not sure if I have a high pain threshold or in comparison to the pain before surgery, this is mild. I do continue to keep my legs up whenever I’m sitting and ice several times a day which I know helps.

 

[Cabu]

Thanks @FourCats, I know I’m not icing or elevating enough,and I really don’t want to be taking pain meds if ice and elevation will do the job just some days are so busy I find it hard to get to it

 

[Arrangrl]

Morning

I’m going to take my painkillers until it’s suggested by my GP/ Pharmacist not too. I’m on Co codamol and Tramadol but the Tramadol stop next week , I’m planning on replacing them with an anti inflammatory if needed .
Re your trip .. that’s a fair drive.. I’m sure you will stop frequently and stretch the legs. On another post Jo talked about crushable ice packs you can take in car to ice en route, however Jo is in USA so not sure we can get such a thing over the pond .

I think you are being very positive and not moan Minnie at all!! You are planning and looking forward… that’s great
Jan x

 

[Cabu]

Thanks Jan
People are so quick to offer nice encouraging words here on bonesmart it really is invaluable to anyone recovering from surgery but the weight the words carry is so much more than your normal support network because these people know what your going through.

I’m not sure about the ice pack either although I can just buy a cheap pack of frozen peas in the supermarkets as I stop along the way and refreeze them for more icing use at home. Peas are my vegetable of choice for icing because the can kind of mold around your leg I don’t think I’ve eaten a frozen pea since I started on this journey for fear they’re ones I’ve been using for icing

 

[Sisterpat]

Cabu, you will be fine. As suggested, bring along ice packs (peas or otherwise!) and stop often to stretch out those legs. When you get to your sister’s make sure to elevate as much as possible. With my first knee I stopped pain meds fairly quickly, but I remained on them longer with the 2nd knee. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to take one or two at this stage with Tylenol in between. Being in pain is not helpful to your recovery.

 

[BBCG]

Cabu, that is a long drive, but I’m at 10 weeks as well, and drove 4 hours, with two rest breaks, at week 8, so it can be done with ice packs and resting somewhere part-way through with your leg elevated some. I was able to find those heavy, gel-filled ice packs on Amazon so I took one in an insulated soft cooler to use at my rest breaks. Peas ought to work, too, (but maybe take some tape and a pen to label them so you don’t eat them later!) I found a picnic table in the shade in a park for my break.

When I reached my destination, I did sit on the couch (sofa) with my leg up and iced it for about 30 minutes. I also did that throughout the weekend, too, because my activity level was so much greater. I simply said my knee needed a break so everyone had to wait for me to go out to the beach! My family teased me, but I teased them right back, warning them that they better behave because when my knee was all healed, they might be sorry!

As for pain killers, this knee was much easier than last knee, and I had weaned myself down to alternating Tramadol with Tylenol (paracetamol) every 6 hours (from every 4), then switched the Tramadol to Tylenol when I was able to go to every 8 hours, at around week 5, I guess it was. Next I weaned it back to only 1 dose of Tylenol before bed. During the day, I apply an herbal salve that contains some CBD in it, but that kind of thing is legal here. You might be able to find a salve with some type of pain remedy in it where you are, too?

I've tried to stop the nighttime Tylenol, but am sorry by next morning, although it's time to try that again this week!

For me, this time, stepping down, spacing out longer, of the pain medications worked much better than 5 years ago...

 

[Cabu]

Thanks @BBCG and @Sisterpat

I’ll definitely be icing on rest breaks and making my family wait for me, to be fair they’re pretty good to me anyway because the last couple of times I went I wasn’t much more mobile because my knees were so bad anyway. Isn’t it funny though I felt I could push that bad ol knee as far as possible and pay for it the next day,I’m far less inclined to do that with my new knee in case I do irreparable damage

and the way my knee(whole leg) is acting up the last few days it’s like it’s after hitting adolescence and all the hardship that brings so I think in order to be pain free I’m going to have to back to some kind of routine for painkillers. I was doing so well that I was taking one tramadol in the morning and then if I thought of it,or got any kind of a twinge, paracetamol(normal strength ) 2 times a day. The last three or four days I’m finding I’m just in pain most of the time, low grade pain but pain all the same and last night in bed was the most pain in about 4 weeks,so bad I had to elevate and sleep half sitting all night.
I keep forgetting (according to my husband both my best and worst attribute ) that there will be setbacks and that I simply can’t do everything I want to yet.
Plan for weekend is take it as easy as possible and try and recover some of the ground I feel I’ve lost.
Happy weekend bonesmarties

 

[BBCG]

Ah, yes, Cabu... likening the effort to think we're again invincible is kinda like the teenage years!

So, you abandoned pain meds a while ago it sounds like? It sounds like maybe you might consider rethinking that plan, as if you're in that much pain, it affects sleep and your general ability to heal, too... sleep is pretty 'dern important!

I was kinda like that last time and my healing was much slower, too. I decided to learn from that experience and be more thoughtful this time, to see if I could find a better, steadier, faster outcome... This time, unlike last time, I was much more methodical: I went from Tramadol every 3 hours alternating with Tylenol every 3 hours (so something every 6 hours, as prescribed upon release form the hospital) to stepping that out to one of each alternating every 4 hours at about week 3, then to 5 hours in week 4, to 6 hours in week 5; then at that point, I traded a Tramadol during the day to a Tylenol and it worked! I am STILL taking Tylenol before bed so I get better rest in the night when I really need that rest to heal! I was much more scientific about it this time, kept a spreadsheet on my computer that documented each dose time and date, etc. I'm now trying once a week to do without that Tylenol dose, but so far, my sleep is interrupted if I forego it, so I'm being smart because I DO know how important sleep is!

I'll go back and revisit my log to be sure I got the weeks I made those changes right, and edit if I'm off...!

I just feel sad if you could feel better and have a more enjoyable time if you rethought your use of the pain medications...

 

[Sisterpat]

Cabu, do what you have to in order to be comfortable. No shame in returning to pain meds. Do elevate and ice, as well. And TAKE IT EASY

 

[Cabu]

Hi all

12 week update

I’m back doing pretty much everything I was before I had tkr however I’m still not completely pain free and still get a lot of stiffness around the knee. The outside of my knee can be particularly painful and sharp when I stand up sometimes or bend to sit. I don’t think it’s “zingers” but I also get those though not too bad really.
My whole right side (tkr side) seems completely out of whack from head to toe literally,I’ve been to the chiropractor once and she done a couple of adjustments and I’m probably going to need a couple of more visits but I do feel that is helping/will help going forward.
The other thing is I’m limping really badly but it’s not with my knee,it’s my ankle and achillies are acting up so I’m going to need physio for those and possibly orthotics. I’ve been putting it off because of the expense but I don’t think I can any longer. I’m finding it disheartening to be in pain most of the time with either knee,ankle/foot or back but hopefully the decision to get the physio and chiro will sort it out and I’ll be able to enjoy my new knee because I actually think it was very successful,I just need to sort everything else out to be sure !!

I’ve had some lovely days at the beach and I’ve driven and hr 15 mins no break shopped for an hr with 10 yr old daughter (arghhhhhh)and drove home again. A little sore,a lot stiff and very tired but it gave me great heart that I was able to do it.

the weather is very warm here at the min so swelling is a bit of a minor issue but I still ice fairly regularly and elevate when I can. I have great functional movement in my knee but I couldn’t tell you any numbers and to be honest functionality is what I was aiming for so the numbers wouldn’t matter to me

There’s just one other thing I noticed and I’m curious to see did it happen to anyone else after TKR …….before I had the op I was in pain all the time and if I done anything at all That just meant more pain but never no pain,and I just done stuff anyway, since I had the op it’s like I’m fearful of pain,I don’t think I ever was before I just put up with it because it was the norm. I just find myself afraid to do things incase it hurts then or later in bed,and I’m curious as to why this is. I would never have said before I was afraid of pain but it seems to be a real thing in my head now

hope everyone is doing ok or better !!